The Peripheral slows down to flesh out its characters in Episode 6

It’s time for another episode of The Peripheral, Amazon Prime Video’s new science fiction show based on the novel by William Gibson. Episode 6, “Fuck You and Eat Shit” is all about taking the time to properly set us up for the final few episodes of season 1. We also meet some brand new characters and get to know others much better.

As always, there will be SPOILERS for The Peripheral below.

The Peripheral Episode 6 review: “Fuck You and Eat Shit”

The latest episode of The Peripheral lets us know right out of the gate that it’s going to be shooting straight for the heart. Remember how I pointed out last week that there was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment where we saw how Connor (Eli Goree) lost his legs and arm? Well, “Fuck You and Eat Shit” starts out by letting us see those events from Connor’s point of view, and it’s heartbreaking.

Connor, Burton (Jack Reynor), and the rest of their marine squad are on an overlook discussing the fact that they had just received reports that the enemy is using dogs as decoys. Lo and behold, down below them is a dog wrapped in barbed wire. Connor resolves to save it, which we know he wants to do because his brain has been experimented on such that he feels more compassion than he otherwise would. Connor breaks formation, running down to free the dog…only to find out that it has an explosive sewn into its belly.

The explosion cuts us back to Connor sleeping in Burton’s trailer, and we realize that the flashback was in fact a nightmare. It sets the stage for a lot of Connor’s material this episode. Later on, he asks tech wiz Macon (Miles Barrow) whether it would be possible for him to live permanently in the peripheral being built for him in the future. Macon is understandably reluctant, since that would mean Connor would be leaving his own body essentially comatose.

In his final scene of the episode, we see how Connor’s disability affects his life as he cooks breakfast before Burton shows up to talk out this new plan to permanently live in the peripheral. All in all, Connor gets a lot of really wonderful character development.

When Burton gifts him a pair of robotic legs made according to a design sent by Lev Zubov’s people in the future, Connor wryly says that, in the past, he’s only tried prosthetics to make people feel more comfortable around him; they’ve never been very useful. I’ve heard this sentiment echoed in the real world. The Peripheral gets props for taking the time to explore all these different angles of Connor’s situation.

The Corbell Pickett conspiracy

“Fuck You and Eat Shit” also shows us the extent of crime lord Corbell Pickett’s (Louis Hertham) power. The episode picks up with Deputy Tommy Constantine (Alex Hernandez) after his car crash and reveals pretty quickly that his boss, Sheriff Jackson (Ben Dickey), is the one who ambushed him and took Bob. I was pleasantly surprised that The Peripheral didn’t string out the mystery behind Tommy’s attack.

Jackson insists that Tommy take a leave of absence, which he does not take well. It eats at him, and he loses the assassin who just tried to kill Flynne (Chloë Grace Moretz). This is the most time we’ve spent with Tommy thus far, and it does a lot to help us understand what makes him tick. The frank discussions he has with his wife and Burton about Corbell Pickett show that he feels helpless to uphold the law, since his own boss is on the crime lord’s payroll. I’m curious to see how that continues to drive Tommy in the season’s final two episodes.

As for Pickett, this episode contains what might be my favorite scene of his in the show so far. Bob (Ned Dennehy) wakes up in Pickett’s dining room with a shock collar on his neck. True to form, Pickett delivers a pompous speech. We learn that he is determined to figure out who is trying to hire people to kill the Fishers, not because he cares about them, but because he hates the idea of someone encroaching on his turf. It’s totally consistent with his character and totally impossible to look away from.

Unfortunately, all doesn’t end well for the Picketts. As Corbell goes to the police station to watch back the security footage from Tommy’s car in order to learn more about who hired Bob, the assassin makes his move. He shatters a 200 gallon fish tank, drenching both himself and Pickett’s wife Mary. As she goes to zap him with the shock collar, he grabs her leg so that she’s electrocuted as well. Being a seasoned murderer, Bob regains consciousness first; we last see Mary asleep among her fishes.

Meanwhile, in the future, Flynne and Wilf (Gary Carr) raid a black market shop that creates peripherals in hopes of learning more about Aelita’s plan. Last week we learned that Aelita had stolen something — presumably data from the God font — and that Cherise (T’Nia Miller) was determined to retrieve it. Flynne and Wilf are trying to puzzle it out.

The fight scene between Flynne and the black market peripheral dealers is a high point of the episode, both because its top notch choreography as well as the excitement that Moretz brings to her performance. Flynne is starting to develop a bit of bloodthirst.

The big reveal here is that Aelita may have somehow downloaded the data to Flynne’s time through her eye into her brain. Remember that bacterial infection that was causing Flynne’s seizures? Ash (Katie Leung) seems to think that might somehow be connected to Aelia. If we remember that Aelita sent data to the stub timeline, we can guess that a crazy twist lies in Flynne’s immediate future.

But we don’t find out for sure in “Fuck You and Eat Shit,” because someone new pops into the forefront that Flynne, Wilf, and Lev Zubov (JJ Feild) can’t ignore.

Introducing Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer

We meet several new characters in this episode, including the ridiculously charming Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer (Alexandra Billings) and her assistant Beatrice (Anjli Mohindra). Inspector Lowbeer gets the news that there has been a murder involving a peripheral — the death of Daniel (David Hoflin) — and is dispatched to investigatey.

Lowbeer and Beatrice go straight to Lev Zubov’s house and set up an interrogation. The polite way they strong-arm their way in is a joy to watch. It makes it very clear that Lowbeer is not someone to be trifled with. Zubov explicitly tells Wilf not to lie to her, and that it would be “impossible” anyway.

Lowbeer knows that Wilf was at the scene of the murder, which means that she could easily convict him. However, she can sense that there’s something bigger afoot. Instead of prosecuting him, she uses her knowledge as leverage to get Zubov and everyone else to talk. Surprisingly, they reveal a lot, right down to the fact that they’re using peripherals with pilots from a past stub timeline.

The inspector demands to speak with them. Zubov calls in Flynne along with Burton and Connor in their newly made peripheral bodies. “Fuck You and Eat Shit” ends with Inspector Lowbeer introducing herself to Flynne, setting up what’s sure to be a fun conversation at the start of the next episode.

Bullet points

• During Wilf and Flynne’s first scene, we find out that most of the people around them are holograms and that the city of London itself is half illusion. Wilf says it’s a projection from the RI, a “mood enhancer,” since the world was so devastated during the Jackpot.
• We see that illusion in other ways; our introduction to Ainsley Lowbeer finds her walking through an idyllic countryside only for it to be revealed that she’s doing laps on a rooftop surrounded by city.
• Inspector Ainsley says that if Lev Zubov didn’t play nice, she’d be forced to put Wilf on trial for Daniel’s murder. She says the result would likely be that they’d watch Wilf’s execution in “seven or so minutes.” So that gives an idea of how expedient the justice system is in the future.
• The scene where Leon tries to take on some of Connor’s pain is powerful. Using their haptics to link, Leon relives some of Connor’s memories of losing his limbs. It’s a brutal scene that shows us the struggle that Connor deals with on a daily basis.
• Wilf and Flynne discover that Aelita is a “Neoprim.” Neoprims are people in the future timeline who use technology to purposely imitate living in a time before technology. In other words, Aelita has a knowledge of how biological systems work and how to integrate technology and biology in a way that is generally not practiced in the future.
• Wilf and Flynne had a moment. The romance is blooming, but is Wilf being genuine or toying with Flynne’s emotions? I’m almost afraid to find out.

Verdict

“Fuck You and Eat Shit” is another all-around solid episode of The Peripheral. It features some truly wonderful work from the cast members and gives us a lot of new information. However, this episode was a little slower and more meticulous than last week’s; there’s a feeling it was setting the stage for the climax ahead. Everything about it was good, but it also wasn’t quite as riveting as usual.

Episode Grade: A-

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